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I'm getting out of wargaming but I still enjoy models I went to my local hobbystore and on my last visit spotted some gundam models and was wondering if you guys could give me some info on them? Are they decenty sized? Are they painted? What kind of time could I put into one? Just any general info would be awesome

Depends on the model but I remember them all being pretty decently sized. As far as I know everything comes pre-molded in the appropriate colors. But I'm sure you could knock out a custom paint job if you want.

They aren't painted but their plastic is coloured so you don't have to unless you want to. Then it more depends on what you're going after. They generally do not require glue either.

As for Scale.
1/100 Zaku II MG.




Then a scale shot of some 1/144s to a Wraithlord.


1/100 to 1/144 and SD. Fun enough most SD are about the size of a dreadnought.


Most MG and up you can expect something to them like a skeleton, then adding armour onto it.

....hmmm wish Gundams fit the universe a little better, these would make great counts as titans. Maybe for Tau as a wink nudge anime fan space commie joke.

Gundam Models, or pretty anything made by Bandai nowadays, fit together amazingly. You might need glue once or twice, but generally they fit together perfectly. The range of motion on the joints pretty much allow you to pose it any way you'd like, depending on the kit and where the armour skirting is.

They're extremely cheap here compared to whatever GW sells. I'm not even sure GW has stores here anymore. They used to, but that is beside the point. If you do want to paint them, it is a good idea to think ahead. I know my first couple of projects looked pretty crummy.

Can you guys give me an idea on a time frame? Like if I buy a stormraven (I'm not the quickest at assembling) would I get a couple days or a week? I don't wanna blow 80 dollars for four hours of fun XD

The ones I used to build only took a maybe three hours. That's including cleaning the pieces of any extra sprue. Most were only 3 - 4 inches high though I had a couple models that were about 12 inches tall.

Never even touched one myself, but they do look cool. Some of them transform, and I was thinking of using one as the base model for a custom Transformer.

Articulation is variable.

When I was making them, most kits are high quality (there were some duds, but they were mostly great), both details and the way the whole thing put together.

There was a budget line too, which had a good sculpt but came uncoloured and didn't have the articulation the main lines had, and required more glue. If you were a good modeller, you could make it look good though.

I like the L-Gaim figures more, though Bandai only ever released a few new kits, the old ones were generally pretty ugly and weirdly proportioned compared with the original designs, though there were a couple of good ones.

There are other companies who make resin kits. These have great detail, though are generally only one pose. They are about Forgeworld prices and are aimed at a similar equivalent market.

I had several, my favorite being my Gouf. They're fairly simple to put together and the ones I had were precolored, so no painting was needed. Decent articulation also. I think they took me about 4-5 hours to un-sprue and assemble. No glue needed either.

Daba wrote:When I was making them, most kits are high quality (there were some duds, but they were mostly great), both details and the way the whole thing put together.

Some of the older kits are totally crap. I'm assuming the box art to be the same as it is here, so the "black and gold" 1/144 kits are the good ones, but there might be some mis-casts. The white box 1/144 scale ones are old and are on par with a model kit you'd expect from 'best Korea'. I recommend, if you were to paint them, to prime them on the sprue in the base colour you desire - it makes them a lot easier to paint. The 1/100 scale kits are trickier and are targeted to the real Gundam Nerds here (i.e. the under armour mechanics, excessive weapons and detailing options). To model them 'accurately' you have to be up on Gundam to the extent a Trekkie is up on Star Trek, (came in third at a model show here for 1/144 Zaku MS-06 as the weapon options I chose weren't accurate. Took another sip of the old cola shock, accepted my $60 prize) but if you just want to make it cool you can do all kinds of crazy stuff.

How old are the crap ones? I do know that there were a lot of dodgy kits but I think it was the "black & gold" ones I generally bought anyway.

I think they're probably the same kits, as I got mine when I was in Hong Kong a while ago, though not that long ago.

The crap ones are from the early 70s, but are still sold here at larger 'Superstores' in the countryside for about 500 yen. Like Tamiya, some of the older kits are still pumped out despite being total garbage (i.e. the first 1/35th German Infantry set from like 1972 or something) compared to what they produce now. The black and gold ones are produced for mass consumption and every guy in Japan has made at least 3 of them in their lifetime. The newer and bigger kits are for true pros and dedicated modellers. I'd love to make more, but I've got too much surfing and scuba to do during the summer.

I am loving that first pic n0t_u.

"KILL THAT!!" yells the space marine.

Actually, Khornholio, which ones do transform, and how big/articulated/high-quality are said transformable models?

Depends on the model design itself in a way. Technically Virtue transforms and actually kind of gains articulation in Nadleeh form.




However they are models so it tends to be a good idea to try and keep them in one form instead of changing too much. The problem with that Virtue one is its wrists and its large gun. Some of the older kits had screws in them as well, not always a bad thing as one of the best Zaku II kits does to let its shoulders slide in and out. So does ZZ for much the same reason, but on the legs for transformation. There are a bunch that transform. I think generally if the design can transform the model will at at least 1/100. Could also possibly transform for their 1/144 form, but I don't have as much experience with that scale. Probably should instead of 1/100s, cheaper and faster to build as well as a larger variety.

I'm actually also curious how the 1/100 Overflag is, I have the 1/144 and it seems a little awkward, but not too bad.

ooo i totally just bought the MG 1/100 astray red frame kai and it looks amazing on my shelf.

seriously though, the quality' articulation, hell even the sprue is way better and cheaper in comparison to anything GW puts out. also, painting is optional for most of the newer kits, but you do lose a bit of detail if you don't panel line or spray paint it. I always panel line, just to give it some detail, then do a clear coat.

Out of interest, what stores in the UK would sell Gundam models?

 Squigsquasher wrote:
Actually, Khornholio, which ones do transform, and how big/articulated/high-quality are said transformable models?

Some of the 1/100 scale ones do, and the larger and expensive ones...1/87 I think. I'll cruise over to the local hobby shop tomorrow and check it out.